I'm Still Here!

I'm still here!

I had a wonderful party at my cousin's house with only three people (including my cousin) in November 2007, but I fell off the wagon from there. I had one hostess cancel twice, and I lost my way in getting my business going.

But I'm still here!

Avis inspired me by doing a basket for a school auction. My son's school auction is coming up on August 5th, so after emailing with Avis to get my courage up, I called a couple of people at my son's school and committed to donating a basket of UB products with a note that the prize contained a one-on-one consultation with me to create a unique scent or scents for the products. I was so excited that I actually did TWO baskets! :-) My son and I shrink wrapped the larger basket (I love you, Dollar Tree!), also filled with a fluffy towel, wash cloths, massage brushes, a bath sponge and other goodies. I wrapped the smaller basket with a bag and bow (again, I love you, Dollar Tree) that held colored washcloths and other goodies with the UB products. One of the school secretaries met me after work at my son's after-school care place to pick up the baskets. She loved them! (My son actually wanted to bid on the baskets so he could have the products to scent for himself. This is from a 6 year old boy who had just made his own bubble bath the day before and had made little lotion samples in scents he created the weekend before. What a funny boy! He comes up with unusual combinations, however, that actually really work well and I like.)

So, I'm still here!

I have a friend interested in looking at the new catalog and I'm going to try to get her to play with the oils and ask if she'd like to book a party. I'm still going to give this a go!

I'm still here.

On a side note, my son won the grand prize in the Wiggle and Win contest at www.movin1075.com! We are going to meet The Wiggles at noon tomorrow before their 1:30 p.m. concert at the Rose Garden (we also won tickets). This will be our 5th Wiggles concert and our first time to meet them. We have come close to Murray (red Wiggle) at our first two concerts, but this is the tops! Jordan is scared to meet them, yet excited. I've a crush on Anthony (blue Wiggle), so I'm over the top! We miss Greg Page (yellow Wiggle), but like Sam, his replacement. It will be fun to also meet Jeff (purple Wiggle). These guys are supposed to be as nice in person as they seem in concert and on the videos. I'll have to find a way to post photos on here -- I've not learned to do that yet.

Also, I'll be celebrating my 40th birthday on March 29th with a haircut at Dezi Salon (www.dezisalon.com) with Ward Stroud and his flying shears http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3DfdD2GLoc. You can You Tube Ward Stroud if the link doesn't work. He actually uses the unsual scissors in both hands. The Oregonian ran an article about him and I decided to make an appointment. My hair has been growing for 18 months and it's time to celebrate my birthday with a new look. I love long hair, but need a style. Ward and Dezi Salon have great reviews.

Again, I'm still here!

Open House Review

I wanted to wait until I had conducted both of my open house dates before I posted -- just to get an overall view.

Well, the two Open Houses did not have the turnout I had hoped and had planned for, but they were still fun. Yes, I did spend more money on them than I made in return, but a few more people were able to experience what Urban Botanic was all about, they had a lot of fun (I sure did!), and I'm hoping they spread the word and maybe book a workshop in the future. I also had a couple of people who let me know they couldn't come, but were interested in perhaps attending a workshop in the future.

The first workshop was at my house. Only one of my friends and her nine-year-old daughter came, but we did have fun. It was wonderful to visit. The daughter created a yummy scent to put into a bubble bath and really liked the creative process. She won a U.B. warmer in the raffle drawing I did (even with only two people, I did it), but my friend will be the primary user and they purchased 3 unopened oils that I had in stock to use with the warmer.

The second workshop was at my parents' house (thank you Mom and Dad!). My aunt and cousin came! :-) While my cousin's two girls played, we got down to experimenting. I love finding out what scents others like -- they open my eyes (and nose!) to scents that I hadn't thought to like or even combine. My aunt created something right away that she liked -- I did, too -- with White Tea and Fig, then put it in a lotion. She continued to experiment with combinations after that just for fun. My cousin tried several combinations, looking for a "clean" scent to put in a shower gel. I believe she ended up with a combination of Green Tea, Pine and Lilac -- it was a lovely mix, I remember, and one that I wouldn't have thought to do.

My aunt won the drawing for the warmer, which was perfect as that was what she was interested in and was thinking of purchasing. She did purchase one oil to use in it.

-- My little note: I cannot believe how one or two drops of the oils into the warmers fill the room with scent! Those little oil bottles will last so long! What a cost savings from candles. I love candles, too, and love the ambiance, but the oil warmer from Urban Botanic is so easy to use. --

I love seeing my aunt and cousin, and my son had a good time playing with them after he and his grandpa came home. I'm sure we will get together to create again either just as a family or in a workshop setting.

As I was cleaning up and putting my oils away, I talked my dad into smelling some of the scents in the Spicy family. He has worn "Old Spice" for years, so when he smelled the Allspice U.B. Fragrance Oil, he decided to try mixing it with Asian Spice. A few drops later, he liked it. While refusing to allow me to put his creation into one of the unscented products for him, he dipped his finger into the mix he'd done and rubbed it on his neck, jaw and hand. Now, those oils are concentrated and a little goes a long way -- especially when not mixed in a product. Dad no doubt still smelled like his creation this morning! I loved that my dad, a very "manly man," even had a bit of fun creating. :-)

So even though the Open Houses didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, I'm glad I did them. I love seeing my family and friends. Plus, I got to play a bit, too.

I'm going to be creating a sample fragrance to put into goody bags for the upcoming Portland Crave Party on December 5th. I'm excited that 100 or so women will hopefully find out about Urban Botanic.

Open House

I'm going to hold an Urban Botanic Open House Workshop on Sunday, October 7th! From 1-3:30 p.m., guests can stop by my little home to learn about Urban Botanic, create a fragrance, experience the new UB Home Fragrance System, and have a chance to win prizes!

Actually, I'm having two Open Houses. Next Sunday, Oct. 14th, I'm going to hold one at my parents' house in Newberg. I have such great and supportive parents!

I am hoping that the Open Houses will give me a push to begin asking people to hold workshops or join me in this venture. I've been shy lately about my business and that is not the way to be in business.

Invitations have been sent and emailed. I've a few to place on neighbors' doors today.

It's so much fun to create the fragrances! The last one I created reminded me of White Shoulders.

I'm going to burn an Apple Pie scent, most likely, in the new warming plate by Urban Botanic. I tried it out the other day and liked the combination of Green Apple, Brown Sugar, and Cinnamon. I had earlier put in a drop of Maple Spice, but found I liked it better without it. I want to try a Chocolate Chip cookie type smell... have to create one! :-)

Happy October!

Little by Little

I just spoke on the telephone to a friend that I hadn't talked to for awhile. While our husbands speak every so often, she and I just don't. Maybe we're just not telephone people? She has a 21 month old daughter, and I have a 5 1/2 year old son, so we seem to be busy with "mom" duties when the guys are talking. Last night, my husband handed the phone over to me after talking to his friend for awhile as the wife, my friend, wanted to speak to me. I had seen a photo of her and her daughter in the newspaper just that day, so was excited to chat. The photo was at an independent toy store in her town near ours, and accompanied an article about the toy store.

During the early part of our conversation, I asked for her email as I am so much more of an email person and she and I just don't see each other as much as we used to when we were single. She, in turn, asked for mine. I gave her my personal email, but mentioned I had another that was connected to my new business, Urban Botanic. She was at her computer, so she immediately pulled up my website and asked questions. She was interested in making a scent for her niece as a birthday gift. The niece had just turned 13 years old and she hadn't yet purchased a gift.

Long story short, I'm going to visit her tomorrow afternoon for her to create a scent for her niece! She may even do one for herself. She's also interested in talking about having a workshop.

What I love about Urban Botanic is that it sells itself even without someone "seeing" the product. The concept of creating something unique -- actually hands-on creating -- is so cool! While I wanted to let my friend know about my new business as I was excited, I had no intention of overloading and pressuring her for a workshop during our conversation (we continued our conversation last night talking about jobs, schools, and life in general).

Little by little, I will build this business. I've only had my kit for about a month... I need patience and shouldn't expect to have tremendous success all at once. Little by little, the word will get out and it will grow.

Chugging along

This week has primarily been taken up with catching up with my "regular" job since I was off last week doing the Mommy thing in getting Jordan ready and off to kindergarten. After the first initial breakdown in the cafeteria by him on the first full-day of kindergarten, he has taken to it quite well and loves it. He even told me yesterday that he now is getting used to his new before and after school care place -- and he only started that on Monday. Our little boy is growing up!

I am planning on blogging about the Thursday workshop. I've been processing the event for the past week... it didn't go as planned, but I learned a lot from it. In retrospect, it was okay. A learning experience. A chance to know what to do / what not to do the next time. And, I have two leads to follow up on! :-)

Last Saturday, after finding myself with a little time alone in the evening, I just took out the perfume oils and started creating. I meant to write down what I was doing, but then just started adding certain oils until I found a combo I loved. I had a little bit of shower gel left in a bottle, so I added it to it (I'd been making samples out of it prior to then). I then created another scent for a little bit of lotion I had left. Yummy! Both were leafy/floral combos. I found I liked them better the day after. Even though I am mostly a "Leafy," I love some of the florals. I just cannot let go of the Rose, Lily, Lilac, or Violet. I also love the Lavendar, which is in the Herby family. That's the great thing with Urban Botanic, though: you can go outside of what your Scent Personality is and just go with what you like! The guests at the Thursday workshop created some yummy combos that I am also itching to try, or at least experiment with. Pomegranite was a hit that night, plus Egyptian Musk.

That has to be my happiest part of being a fragrance designer for UB -- seeing people get excited and be happy with what they've created.

New UB Product!!!

Urban Botanic has announced a new product! The UB Home Collection! Now you can use the same UB perfume oils you use to create your personal perfume/lotion/shower gel/ bubble bath scent to create a personalized home fragrance.

Here is what the announcement from Urban Botanic founder, McKenna Gordon, had to say:

As you know, we have been investigating many different methods of scenting your home with UB products. We have tested everything from candles to reed diffusers, plug-ins to room sprays… we wanted to find the best way to fill your home with inviting fragrance.

In the end we found the best method to be oil warming. Your UB Perfume Oils make the most fabulous home fragrances and are safe to use in an oil warmer. We are astonished at the quality of home fragrances our products make. We probably shouldn't be so surprised, but we found the Urban Botanic Home Collection to be more fragrant and clean smelling than any candle or other form of home fragrance we'd experienced before. Ever. We can't wait for you to discover the same!

The best part is your customers can enjoy our fragrances in their home for about one-tenth the cost of candles. Not to mention UB Home Fragrances are a safer, more environmentally friendly, and a no-hassle way to scent your home.

Here's how it works:
Place 2-3 drops of your favorite UB Perfume Oil directly into our Oil Warming Plate (SKU UB470) and turn it on. Within five minutes, you'll be enjoying rich, inviting fragrance throughout your home. It takes just a few drops to scent your home for 6-8 hours. You can also turn the Warming Plate off after a period of time and the scent will linger in your home much longer than candles and other home fragrance methods.

Some highlights of the product:

1/10th the cost of candles: An average 24oz candle ($25 - $35) burns for approximately 110 hours. One bottle of UB Fragrance Oil offers over 1000 burning hours and at a much more appealing price!

Safety: No open flame.

Environmentally friendly: no soot, wax, or harsh chemicals released into the air.

Change your scent with your mood! You don't have to commit to loving your home scent for 110 hours as with a candle. With your Signature Fragrance Collection, you can change your mind on your home scent every day! Monday: Pear + Grapefruit, Tuesday: Apple + Cinnamon, Wednesday: Fig!

Other UB Home Fragrance Information:

What if my recipe is more than 3 drops?

Although it only takes a few drops of oil to scent your home, you may choose to use more drops in order to create a home fragrance recipe. For instance, you may like to warm up 3 drops of Maple Spice with 1 drop each of Vanilla and Coconut. Using a few extra drops won't waste your oil: you can turn off your Warming Plate once your home is well-scented, and then turn your Warming Plate back on the next day without adding extra oil. As long as there is still oil in your Warming Plate, you can turn it on and enjoy the fragrance.

What if I already have an oil warmer or lamp ring?

We highly recommend using the UB Warming plate. It heats UB Perfume Oils to the perfect temperature to guarantee maximum fragrance output and safety. We can't guarantee the safety or effectiveness with other oil heating devices. Customers can use other oil warmers and lamp rings at their own risk. If the customer uses a lamp ring or other device heated by a tea-light or light bulb they will experience a less detectable fragrance and possibly fewer burning hours.

The Oil Warming Plate is $19.95.

The UB Home Collection is $49.95 (Contains Oil Warming Plate, plus three perfume oils of the customer's choice. That's a value of $60.46 ,so you are saving $10.50!).

Some great news! For the month of September, all Signature Fragrance Collections ordered by customers will receive a FREE Oil Warmer Plate in their shipment. That's an added $20 value!

Please contact me by visiting my site, www.urbanbotanic.com/kim, if you are interested.

Getting Ready

I'm getting ready for both my first regular UB workshop next Thursday AND our son's first day of kindergarten the same day. Between those things and my regular FT job, I'm busy! I'll be out of my regular work office all next week to take care of Jordan and do the kindergarten thing. First soccer game for Jordan is next week, too!

I just placed an order with UB to stock up on product for the workshop. I have the free product that came with my kit order, but I want to be sure to have enough on hand for both the gift bags and the single orders. My hostess is doing a fantastic job of gathering guests. I'm expecting 8-12 people to show. How exciting! I hope it goes well for all of us. The good thing for me to remember is that the guests are going to have fun creating their own unique scents and that is the biggest thing of all. My organization and presentation will get better the more workshops I do. This is new and I am allowed a learning curve -- no one is perfect!

Goodness! I hope I sell the product! I've not "paid" back for my kit or other business expenses yet and I'd like to move forward on that.